Method for marking period cards such as weekly or monthly period cards for railways,buses or the like and a device for carrying the method into effect



Jul 19, 1960 N. E. J. STAHL E 2,945,432

METHOD FOR MARKING PERIOD CARDS SUCH AS WEEKLY OR MONTHLY-PERIOD CARDS FOR RAILWAYS, BUSES OR THE LIKE AND A DEVICE FOR CARRYING THE METHGD INTO EFFECT Filed Nov. 14, 1957 M14 W! INVENTOR O hi/r0344 WM United States Patent METHOD FOR MARKING PERIOD CARDS SUCH AS WEEKLY OR MONTHLY PERIOD CARDS FOR RAILWAYS, BUSES OR THE LIKE AND A DE- ;g g ICFOR CARRYING THE METHOD INTO Nils Evert Johan Stahl, Stocksund, and Oscar Uno Larsson, Hagersten, Sweden, assignors to AB Almex, Stockholm, Sweden Filed Nov. 14, 1957, Ser. No. 696,426

Claims priority, application Sweden Nov. 15, 1956 4 Claims. (Cl. 101-66) During later years many efforts have been made to provide receipt or ticket delivery machines able to print both receipts or normal tickets and bills or period cards as well. Cash registers have also been built, by means working cycle performed by the machine when marking ratuses for this purpose.

The accompanying drawings disclose an embodiment of the device according to theinvention as applied to the already known Almex apparatus.

Fig. 1 is a side view of the device with one end wall removed.

of which receipts and bills can be printed alternately,

but the method employed for achieving the purpose has involved the use of very complicated constructions. Although stationary devices were concerned, which can mostly be reconstructed in a considerable degree without great difliculties, the suggested solutions of the problem have been too expensive and, due to the complicated mechanism, the devices have not been able to work so automatically and reliably as must be demanded of machines of this kind. Ideas of constructing portable. ticket delivery devices for the above mentioned purposes have in business life, solves in a surprisingly simple way the great problem of alternately printing receipts and bills, and tickets and period cards respectively.The method also allows the use of already existing apparatuses or. registers, which need only to be equipped with some completing parts. No important rebuilding of the vital parts of an existing machine is necessary to obtain the intended functioning of the machine.

The main feature of the method according to the inven- -tion consists in the use of a ticket printing machine for the marking, the insertion of a card to be marked in the machine, the automatic disconnection of the ticket feeding mechanism on insertion of the card, and resetting of all elements, after marking and removal of the card, to operative positions for renewed optional utilization either for printing tickets or for marking cards.

The device used to carry the above method into effect is mainly characterized in that the ticket feeding mechanism of a ticket printing machine is adapted to be set inoperative by means located adjacent to the inlet for the card, said feeding mechanism being disconnected via motion transmitting means actuated by the card.

The abovementioned device can to advantage, and particularly so as far as portable apparatuses are concerned, be applied to the so-called Almex apparatus, the construction of which is disclosed for instance in the US. Patent No. 2,575,897.

Since machines of the kind here concerned are normally provided with a counter roller adapted to be pressed against a ticket feeding roller during delivery of tickets, arrangements should be made to set the counter roller inoperative through motion transmitting means during the Fig. 2 shows the same device as viewed from above,

and

Fig. 3 is a section along line IIIIII in Fig. 1.

Before the various elements of the device are specified, it is expressly pointed out that all active elements, except for a counter roller, are always performing their working'strokes during the working cycle of the machine, and this whether a ticket or receipt is printed or a period card or bill is marked. If for instance a period card 2 is put through an opening 1 in the casing of the apparatus, however, a light spring-loaded feeler 3 is caused to make a swinging movement, thereby actuating anaxle 4 which in its turn sets a retainer 5 from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 into the position indicated by chaindotted lines in the same figure, whereby the ticket mechanism is put out of'function. Fastened to a torsional axle 10 by means of a pin are cam discs 11, which cooperate with .antifriction rollers 12. These are fitted on a joint lever 13, which is mounted to be turnable about the axle '4 and is S-shaped in longitudinal section. An automaticall'y reciprocating motion is imparted to the lever 13 by the turning of the axle 10 in one direction or the other.

- Pivoted at 14 to the free end of the lever 13 is a link 15,

whose more or less circular end portion 16 enters a corresponding recess 17 provided in an arm 6. The arm 6, which is provided with a guide slot 30 receiving a stationary guide pin 18, partakes via the link 15 in the movements made by the lever 13 on actuation of 'the cam discs 11.

An axle 21 is mounted in a plate-shaped frame part 19 (Fig. 2), which serves as a bearing for various axles and as attachment for pivots and the like. Mounted so as to be rotary about the axle 21 is a sleeve 20, in which the shaft of a counter roller 8 is eccentrically mounted. When in operative position this roller is adapted to cooperate with a ticket feeding roller 7, which is located right behind a ticket cutter of common type. The free end of the arm 6 is shaped into a toothed segment 23, which meshes with a gear wheel 24 on the axle 21.

In the embodiment of the invention diagrammatically shown in Fig. l the apparatus is equipped with the abovementioned ticket feeding roller 7 which, in co-operation with the counter roller 8, advances the receipt strip 25 marked in the drawing after printing, and with the cutter 22. The ribbon 26, marked with in the drawing, is placed between the ticket strip 25 and a control strip 9 marked, inthedrawing.

For printing tickets the machine works as follows: The counter roller 8 is pressed for a suitable interval against the feeding roller 7. The receipt or ticket is printed on the strip 25 from below by printing means of known type (not shown in the drawing) and is then detached from the strip by the cutter 22. When a period card is to be provided with print, the card is simply inserted in the apparatus without any special steps being taken. The

card 2 may be very recklessly inserted, as indicated by chain-dotted lines in Fig. 2, through the opening 1, but will still actuate the feeler 3 which is indirectly (via the axle 4 and the retainer 5) affected by a relatively weak spring 27. The feeler 3 will then, even though the contact with the card is very slight and offers no resistance to the insertion thereof, bring the retainer 5 into the operative position indicated by chain-dotted lines in Fig. 3. When the Working cycle of the apparatus is now accomplished manually or mechanically, the arm 6 controlled by the draw spring 28 will be moved into engagement with the retainer 5. Through the swinging movement of the lever 13 and the effect of the retainer 5, which serves as a stop, the arm 6 is then brought to perform an upward swinging movement against the action of the spring power. At the same time the toothed segment 23 then turns the sleeve 20, and due to the eccentric journalling of the counter roller 8 in the sleeve the cooperation between roller 8 and the ticket feeding roller 7 stops when roller 8 has assumed the position indicated by chain-dotted lines in the drawing. In other words, the counter roller 3 has been rendered inoperative by a small number of very simple elements, and when the card 2 is now positioned between the non-moving ticket strip 25 and the ribbon 26, the printing types acting against the lower side of the card Will, with the nonmoving strip lying in between without being provided with print, reproduce the intended print or marking on the card 2 and on the control strip as well. With the card 2 withdrawn from the apparatus after printing the machine is automatically ready for renewed printing on the ticket strip or on a new card inserted in the machine, and on the control strip.

It will be obvious that the above described printing procedure can be effected by very uncomplicated elements, which to advantage can be applied to the majority of the ticket apparatuses, cash registers and the like hitherto known. No vital reconstruction of the apparatus is required, provided that the elements forming parts of the device are fitted according to the invention. It would therefore be possible to modify in many ways the embodiment described above and illustrated in the drawing without abandonment of the inventional spirit.

We claim:

1. In a ticket feeding machine having a ticket feeding mechanism and adapted for use in marking period cards, a torsional axle, cam discs secured to the latter, antifriction rollers cooperating with said cam discs, a joint lever having the antifriction rollers arranged thereon, an axle, said lever being turnably mounted on the latter and being of an S shape in longitudinal section, said lever having an automatically reciprocating action imparted thereto by the turning of said cam discs, a link pivoted to the free end of the lever and having a substantially circular end portion, an arm formed with a recess therein and being entered by the substantially circular end portion of said link, a stationary guide pin, said arm being provided with a guide slot at one end thereof adapted to receive said stationary guide pin and partaking together with the link in the movement of the lever when actuated by said cam' discs, said controlled means for blocking movements of said one end of said arm to cause the latter to execute a swinging movement about said stationary guide pin, and means actuated by said swinging movement of said arm to disable said ticket feeding mechanism.

2. In a ticket delivery machine adapted for use in marking period cards and having a ticket feeding mechanism comprising a ticket feeding roller and a counter roller pressing against said ticket feeding roller and adapted to be set into inoperative position relative thereto, a card inlet, means located adjacent to and adapted to be actuated by a card introduced into said card inlet, and means controlled by said card-actuated means for setting said counter roller into inoperative position during a card-marking cycle of the machine.

3. In a ticket delivery machine having a ticket feeding mechanism and adapted for use in marking period cards, a casing having an opening therein to receive a card, a light spring-loaded feeler adapted to make a swinging motion, an axle actuated by the latter, a retainer turned by the action of said axle from one position to a second position, andmeans rendered effective by said retainer when turned to said second position for disabling said ticket feeding mechanism.

'4. In a ticket delivery machine adapted for use in marking period cards and having a ticket feeding mechanism, a card inlet, means located adjacent to and adapted to be actuated by a card introduced into said card inlet, and means controlled by said card-actuated means for disabling said ticket feeding mechanism.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,193,641 Orth Mar. 12, 1940 

